Home Star Coalition Tops 1,000 Members

Washington, D.C. — The HOME STAR Coalition today announced it now has 1,000 members from all 50 states – including construction contractors, building products and mechanical manufacturers, retail sales businesses, environmental and energy efficiency groups and labor advocates – who want to see the job creation and energy savings benefits of bipartisan HOME STAR legislation realized.

The Coalition’s announcement comes on the heels of Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Mark Warner (D-VA) introducing the bipartisan “Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010” (S. 3177) on March 25. House members are expected to introduce companion HOME STAR legislation after the congressional recess, and the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee has already voted on draft legislation.

“HOME STAR is gaining a lot of momentum,” said Richard Burbank, owner of Evergreen Your Home, a Maine-based home performance company and the 1,000th member to join the HOME STAR Coalition. “Evergreen is proud to be a part of such a diverse Coalition and advocating for passage of a bill that is going to create good jobs and help get our economy back on track.”

HOME STAR is a market-driven, low-bureaucracy program that would create jobs fast by scaling the existing home energy efficiency improvement industry. HOME STAR would use incentives to spur more Americans to start making their homes more energy efficient. It would establish a $6 billion rebate program to encourage immediate investment in energy-efficient appliances, building mechanical systems and insulation, and whole-home energy efficiency retrofits. Consumers nationwide would embrace HOME STAR because it will be simple, accessible and help them save money.

“HOME STAR is the right plan at the right time,” said Matt Golden, President and Co-founder of home performance company Recurve. “The construction industry is in a depression right now with a 25 percent unemployment rate. HOME STAR will put tens of thousands of American construction workers back to work making American homes more energy efficient.” \

HOME STAR would help to kick-start the comeback of our country’s hard-hit construction industry. It’s estimated the legislation would create 168,000 new jobs in construction and related industries over the next two years. This would have a big impact because one out of four construction workers is currently out of a job.

For more information about HOME STAR and the HOME STAR Coalition, please visit www.homestarcoalition.org.